"Those among the rich who are not, in the rigorous sense, damned, can understand poverty, because they are poor themselves, after a fashion— they cannot understand destitution. Capable of giving alms, perhaps, but incapable of stripping themselves bare, they will be moved, to the sound of beautiful music, at Jesus’s sufferings, but His Cross, the reality of His Cross, will horrify them." Léon Bloy

20 April 2017

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Paper, Numbers, and Dreams

"While the crash only took place six months ago, I am convinced we have now passed the worst and with continued unity of effort we shall rapidly recover. There is one certainty of the future of a people of the resources, intelligence and character of the people of the United States-that is prosperity."

President Herbert Hoover, May 1, 1930

"The money was all appropriated for the top in the hopes that it would trickle down to the needy. Mr. Hoover was an engineer. He knew that water trickled down. Put it uphill and let it go and it will reach the driest little spot.

But he didn't know that money trickled up. Give it to the people at the bottom and the people at the top will have it before night anyhow. But it will at least have passed through some poor fellow’s hands.

They saved the big banks, but the little ones went up the flue."

Will Rogers, 5 December 1932

“The sense of responsibility in the financial community for the community as a whole is not small. It is nearly nil.”

John Kenneth Galbraith, The Great Crash of 1929

It was a risk on day, as the algos shook off any concerns and went into 'up mode.'

Big cap tech pushed to a new closing high.

But less noted in the enthusiastic commentary from the spokesmodels for Wall Street, the broader market continues to lag, badly.

The Russell 2000 still is not confirming this move. I direct your attention to the first chart below.

This greatly undermines the hypothesis that this 'stock rally' is signalling that The Recovery™ is here at long last.

More likely, this is La Bubble Partie Trois.

Smells like another new era, and an inflation in paper financial assets as the Fed and the pampered politicos spread the new monetary wealth— upwards to the favored few.

And some would give them yet even more freedom to print at will to solve our problems. And this would make them suddenly virtuous how?

They have created enormous sums of money, and it continues to be misspent on nonsense for the benefit of the sectional monopolies like Big Pharma, Big Healthcare, Big Tech, and The Banks.

There is unrest bubbling under the surface of all of the major Western economies, from the US, to the UK, to France, and even stoic Germany.

"The American economy increasingly serves only a narrow part of society, and America's national politics has failed to put the country back on track through honest, open, and transparent problem solving. Too many of America's elites-among the super-rich, the CEOs, and many of my colleagues in academia-have abandoned a commitment to social responsibility. They chase wealth and power, the rest of society be damned."

Le Propriétaire

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Need Little - Want Less - Love More

The Banks must be restrained, and the financial system reformed, with balance restored to the economy, before there can be any sustainable recovery.

"In the Incarnation the whole human race recovers the dignity of the image of God. Thereafter, any attack even on the least of men is an attack on Christ, who took on the form of man, and in his own Person restored the image of God in all. Through our relationship with the Incarnation, we recover our true humanity, and at the same time are delivered from that perverse individualism which is the consequence of sin, and recover our solidarity with all mankind." Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"A credibility trap is when the managerial functions of a society have been sufficiently compromised by corruption so that the leadership cannot reform, or even honestly address, the problems of that system without implicating a broad swath of the powerful, including themselves.

The moneyed interests and their aspirants tolerate the corruption because they have profited from it, and would like to continue to do so. Discipline is maintained by various forms of soft financial rewards and career and social coercion."

These are personal observations about the economy and the markets. In providing information, I hope this allows you to make your own decisions in an informed manner, even if it is from learning by my mistakes, which are many. As a standing policy I never provide individual investment advice to anyone. I will only occasionally disclose my personal positions for purposes of illustration. Understand that my own circumstances could differ greatly from your own, and therefore what is suitable for me may not be suitable for you. My comments are intended to be reflection on general macro financial and economic events and trends.